China: ‘Coronavirus quarantine’ hotel collapses, trapping dozens

Times of News

6 years ago

Around four people have died after a hotel collapsed in eastern Fujian province in China on Saturday evening.

Xinjia Hotel in Quanzhou had been used as a quarantine center for people suspected of having coronavirus.

The collapse happened at around 7:30 p.m local time (1130 UTC), authorities said.

Hours after the collapse, Quanzhou authorities said that more than 40 of the 70 people who had been in the hotel had been rescued. Dozens more were still trapped.

Rescue efforts were ongoing. The reason for the collapse has not yet been made public. Federal authorities have sent an emergency working team to the site.

Read more: Coronavirus hits global tourism hard

Rescue workers continued into the night

‘I can’t contact them’

“I can’t contact them, they’re not answering their phones,” a relative told Reuters news agency.

“I’m under quarantine too [at another hotel] and I’m very worried, I don’t know what to do. They were healthy, they took their temperatures every day, and the tests showed that everything was normal.”

Map showing Quanzhou in China

Quanzhou, a city of 8 million, lies in Fujian province on the mainland side of the Taiwan Strait. The 80-room hotel opened in June 2018 and had a 4.5-star rating on Trip.com.

The province of Fujian had 296 cases of coronavirus and 10,819 people had been placed under observation after being classified as suspected close contacts.

The city is around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Wuhan in Hubei province, where the global COVID-19 outbreak began.

Empty cultural sites: Coronavirus hits China’s tourism industry

Global impact

The coronavirus epidemic has consequences for international cultural events. The Art Basel Hong Kong art fair has been canceled. China has downsized its participation in the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. The Chinese National Opera’s New Year’s Concert in Berlin was also canceled; musicians and performers are not allowed to leave because of the coronavirus crisis.

Empty cultural sites: Coronavirus hits China’s tourism industry

Closed to tourists

Usually, crowds of tourists jostle their way through the Forbidden City. Now, a lonely tourist has Beijing’s Palace Museum all to himself. The city’s imperial palace, built from 1420 to 1644, is considered an architectural masterpiece and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. It was initially the seat of the Ming and later the Qing dynasty, and where the emperor and his court lived.

Empty cultural sites: Coronavirus hits China’s tourism industry

Attractions on hold

Disneyland Shanghai has closed its doors to the Magic Kingdom for the time being. The coronavirus outbreak intensified at the start of the Chinese New Year. Subsequent quarantine and travel restrictions caused the annual surge of holiday travel within and to China to collapse. Last year the industry reported a turnover of $78 billion (€71.5 billion) during the weeklong holidays alone.

Empty cultural sites: Coronavirus hits China’s tourism industry

No access

In the fight against the coronavirus, China’s authorities have not stopped at shutting down historical sites. Parts of the Great Wall of China, a powerful symbol for the country, have been closed off. The section of the wall in Badaling, northern Beijing (photo above), which is highly popular with tourists, is closed. Also closed are the Ming graves and the Yinshan Pagoda.

Empty cultural sites: Coronavirus hits China’s tourism industry

Dragon dance

Spring in Shenyang in 2019: A dance group performs a dragon dance on the occasion of the Longtaitou Festival, when China celebrates the second day of the second month in the Chinese lunar calendar. It is known as “the day when the dragon raises its head,” and the country and nature regain strength. This year, it falls on February 24, but the coronavirus epidemic could put a damper on events.

Author: Stefan Dege (db)